I've heard talk on the WW message boards (or maybe it was on Mr. Ointy) about so-called "trigger foods." From what I can tell from context clues, these are foods that trigger over-eating. Foods that once you start eating them, you tend to not stop. I'm proud of myself, because last night, I let myself eat on of my trigger foods, DoubleDave's Peproni rolls, and I managed to control myself.

One of my rituals over the last year has been Tuesday night Peproni rolls. On Tuesdays, DoubleDave's has their rolls on sale two-for-the-price-of-one, which is a very cheap dinner. Because I used to live in a delivery dead-zone, I would call in an order for eight or ten or twelve rolls (thinking that I would have leftovers for lunches) at 6:25 precisely, the jump in my car and drive maniacally to the DoubleDave's on Duval and 31st (because they had more accessible parking than the slightly closer DoubleDave's on 24th and San Antonio), pick up my rolls, grab some cups of ranch dressing from the salad bar, and then try to make it home at 7:00 precisely, just in time for Gilmore Girls. The rolls are perfection when eaten still hot from the oven, so if I got home too early, I had to choose between eating cold rolls during the show, or eating hot rolls with nothing on TV. Such is the dilemma of the obese. When I moved to my current apartment, which is within the DD delivery area, I started ordering in--I could get rolls during Gilmore Girls or The Amazing Race, without endanger my life or others! But, once I got a big pizza box full of yummy Peproni rolls in front of two hours of my favorite TV shows, I wouldn't stop eating at two rolls or five. I would eat rolls until I was absolutely stuffed and felt slightly sick, then put the rest of the box in the fridge, to be eaten a few at a time over the next day or so. It's a digusting ritual, but for real, I did this every week for a good seven or eight months. It's no wonder my gall bladder gave out.

Last week, my first day on WW, I didn't dare order the rolls, because I didn't want to start the program off on a bad foot. Last night, however, I braved the roll--partially because I've been eating grilled chicken strips for the last week and I'm already getting tired of that, and partially because, well, the rolls are good. And I had 19 points left for the day, so I figured that I had some room to indulge a little. Thankfully, the DoubleDave's website has the nutritional info on the rolls (6.6 points each), or else I might have had to leave them alone entirely, because I'm not that good at estimating points yet.

So, I ordered a conservative four rolls (you have to order them in twos to get the discount, and four rolls is only $3. I would be too embarrassed to only order two, and walk in there with my $1.50. Something for me to think about later--how much of my bad eating habits are dictated by possible embarrassment?), thinking that I would eat two with a salad for dinner last night, and then have two left over for dinner or lunches or whatever. I went to pick them up before TAR (there was not a new GG last night), and even got some ranch dressing, figuring that I could dip lightly and count it as one point. The rolls were so good. I couldn't stop at two, though, and I ate three, which put me a little over points for yesterday, which is fine, because that's what Flex points are there for. And I have one left over for lunch today. I'm so proud of myself for exercising the constraint that I did--I didn't overeat, and I didn't go to bed feeling hungry. If this WW can really teach me how to eat in moderation, and to trade off nights of indulgence with nights of really big salads, it will be well worth it.

One of my coworkers thinks that the rolls would freeze well, so that's something to remember in the future.

(In the back of my mind, I'm a little scared that the fact that I ate Peproni rolls last night at all, and especially the fact that I had third roll was a sign of weakness. I mean, I ate out on Monday night, so I need to be cutting back already. I can't lose control of this in the second week, I just can't. It's really hard.)